1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to advertising. More particularly, the present invention relates to apparatus for displaying advertisements in combination with the display of desirable public information. More particularly yet, the present invention relates to multi-faced, continuously-rotating apparatus having public information and advertising in view at all times. Most particularly, the present invention relates to such apparatus that is relatively light in weight and easy to assemble and disassemble.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The continually increasing industrialization, commercialism and resulting competition for attention in modern society has fueled the need for ever-more inventive modes of advertising. Over the past century, a great variety of advertising-display devices have been developed, ranging from the Mail Pouch broadsides on barns in rural America to the giant-size smoke rings formed in real time high on the xe2x80x9cFlatironxe2x80x9d Building in Manhattan""s Times Square. Indeed, representative of a certain type of advertising context, those cigarette-advertising smoke rings were situated directly above a moving-letters news display that proved very efficient in getting persons in Times Square to look up and, as a consequence, to take in the advertisement. It is reasonable, then, that businesses interested in getting potential customers to view their advertising copy would also be interested in combining their advertisements with non-commercial information of interest to the public and simultaneously with eye-catching motion, even if those businesses are not of the size that can afford to buy space in Times Square or the like. In seeking to provide such a context for their advertisements, these smaller businesses also have to operate within the ever-tighter regulatory atmosphere that now prevails for commercial messages, as discussed below. The regulations creating this atmosphere have greatly reduced the availability of advertising venues at the very time that new businessesxe2x80x94large and smallxe2x80x94seeking to capture the public""s attention have exploded in number. It is necessary, therefore, to take advantage of every niche left available for advertising in public spaces. In many locations, the only kind of advertising display that is allowed is that which displays public information along with the advertising copy. The demand for advertising displays incorporating public information is thus driven both by the advertiser""s interest in capturing the public""s fleeting attention and by the need to gain permission in the first place to set out the advertising display.
Wiesenfeld (U.S. Pat. No. 715,226; issued 1902) teaches a device containing a clock at the top of a column and a rotating advertising display section at the base of the column. Although the advertising-display section is capable of displaying multiple advertisements and of rotating, it is not readily viewable in a large crowd, the precise environment in which the advertiser would like to place it. Furthermore, the clock of the Wiesenfeld device is not multi-faced and does not rotate; as a result, it will attract the attention of only those people who are within a 90-degree sector with respect to the device.
Mclntire (U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,932; issued 1985) discloses a cabinet-resembling advertising sign support that houses two separate rotating axles for presenting multiple advertisements seriatim.. The display of the McIntire device is coupled with a stationary central sign board. A hinged, convex, semi-circular piece overlying the top wall of the McIntire device includes a single-faced stationary clock. The McIntire device appears bulky, heavy and expensive, and therefore unlikely to be utilized by smaller businesses or traveling vendors for whom transportability and low cost are essential. Another major drawback of this cabinet device of McIntire is that at any given time most of the advertisements are within a cabinet, awaiting their turn to be displayed, and therefore not visible to the target public.
Hoyt et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,219; issued 1991) teaches a four-faced, illuminated advertising display that can be mounted on an existing sign post Once mounted, the display revolves around a stationary pole by means of an internal drive mechanism. The Hoyt et al. device does not provide for the display of any attention-grabbing public information that would lead the potential customers to be exposed to the advertising messages. It depends, rather, on the movement of the cube to draw public attention. Although this provides a gimmick that is useful as an attractant, it will not satisfy those codes that only permit advertising displays that are coupled with non-commercial information of general interest to the public.
Therefore, what is needed is an advertising device that is lightweight, transportable, sturdy, and aesthetically pleasing. What is further needed is such a device that combines desirable public information with the capacity to present a multiplicity of commercial messages (advertisements). What is still further needed is such a device on which both the public information and the commercial messages are readily viewable at any given time by the vast majority of persons in large crowds surrounding and/or passing by the device. Finally, what is needed is such a device that is readily assembled and disassembled, and affordable for small businesses.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an advertising device that is lightweight, transportable, sturdy, and aesthetically pleasing. It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a device that combines desirable public information with the capacity to present a multiplicity of advertisements. It is a yet further object of the present invention to provide such a device on which both the public information and the advertisements are readily viewable at any given time by the vast majority of the persons within device that is readily assembled and disassembled, and affordable for small businesses.
The device of the present invention consists in major part of two modules, a public-news module and an advertising module, supported by a vertical shaft, a base support, and a rotational drive mechanism. Where possible, all componentsxe2x80x94in particular, the components of the public-news module and the advertising modulexe2x80x94are fabricated from lightweight materials such as aluminum and plastic. The public-news module is roughly cubic in shape, and may be framed in with aluminum or plastic xe2x80x9cangle-irons.xe2x80x9d The public-news module has a number of roughly planar transparent, translucent, or electronic side panels through or by which public news, such as time and temperature, news, schedules, etc., can be displayed. In a typical embodiment, a temperature display on each side panel can be linked to a remote sensor, or to a sensor located at or near the device itself. In another typical embodiment, multiple clocks, or a single clock with multiple faces, may be placed within the public-news module, so that the current time may be viewed on any of the planar side panels. In still another embodiment, electronic-display side panels controlled by computer may show local public transportation schedules. The public-news module is constructed in such manner as to prevent its contents from being damaged by rain or other weather elements or, alternatively, if the device is to be used indoors, less attention and fewer resources need be paid to making this and the other modules weather-proof.
The advertising module is usually positioned directly below, and typically joined to, the public-news module on the device. The advertising module will also contain a plurality of translucent, transparent, or electronic (e.g., plasma) planar side panels. Unlike the panels in the public-news module, these side panels will be, in general, of greater length in the vertical dimension than in the horizontal. They will, therefore, form rectangles with the long side in the vertical direction. Access means will be provided by which to place and replace particular advertising copy into each of the side panels on the advertising module. In a typical embodiment, each panel will display different advertising copy. The module may also be illuminated from the inside, so as to provide illumination to the advertisements, or, alternatively, electronic side panels will each provide its own illumination source.
A central shaft of the device of the present invention extends vertically from a base support, the ground, or the floor up to the public-news and advertising modules. The central shaft holds the two modules aloft, above the general traffic and scenery of the device""s location, so that, generally, the public-news module and the advertising module can be seen by all persons in the vicinity at all times.
The rotational drive mechanism may be located in a base supporting the shaft. In such an embodiment, the public-news module and advertising module are fixed atop the shaft, and the rotational drive mechanism turns the vertical shaft, thereby rotating the modules. In other embodiments, the rotational drive mechanism may be at or near the top of the vertical shaft, within or as part of the public-news module and/or advertising module. In such embodiments, the public-news module and advertising module rotate about the central shaft on a bearing component, and the rotational drive mechanism is fixed to the vertical shaft and turns the public-news module and advertising module, or the rotational drive mechanism is fixed to the public-news and advertising modules and turns itself around the vertical shaft. The rotational drive mechanism consists of a motor and a transmission components, such as gears, wheels, belts, or a chains.
The device of the present invention, depending on its particular embodiment, is intended to be placed in airports, shopping centers, commuter/train/bus concourses, etc. In these areas aesthetics are key, space is limited, and there is no room for oversized or unsightly advertisement displays. Further, these large open areas are environments to which the present invention caters, because it is readily seen from all sides by many passersby. One could envision, for example, the present invention located in the main concourse area of a busy airport wherein the current time, as well as the time for other frequently traveled time zones, is displayed along with advertisements for some of the airport shops. Likewise, the present invention located in a busy commuter train station could display from every direction the boarding time and track of departure for specific trains on all panels of the public-news module, while presenting a series of advertisements for local businesses as the advertising module rotated. In both situations, a passerby who is departing, arriving, or meeting a passenger would be likely to study the device for its public information and thereby become exposed to the advertisements that hove into view during the time required to take in the desired information. Because of the access means provided in the device of the present invention, an attendant could easily replace, on the spot, new advertisements for ones that had been on display for their allotted time.
The device of the present invention differs from the prior-art in a number of important ways. In particular, unlike the device of Wiesenfeld, the present device combines a multi-sided advertising and clock display that is elevated from the floor and readily viewable from all sides. Further, the device of the present invention differs from the McIntire device in that each of its public-information panels and advertisements is viewable from some direction at all times, while the overall design and construction of the device conserves space and remains attractive. Still further, the device of the present invention differs from the Hoyt et al. device in that all of the components necessary to operate the device are included, and in that the device utilizes general public information to draw the attention of the potential consumer so as to provide this device entrance to areas that are barred to all advertising devices not providing generally useful, non-commercial. information. These and other advantages of the present invention will become evident upon a review of the drawings, the detailed description of the preferred embodiment, and the claims below.